Chapter 10:
"Good morning, Mr Parker," Said Tony Stark's aide, Pepper Potts. She wore a black business suit, with her red hair tied back in a bun. She calmly stood up from the chair she had been sitting in an moved in front of her desk, grabbing a clipboard as she did so. "I take it the drive over here was comfortable?"
"It was a limo, hello? Leagues ahead of walking, then taking the subway, like I planned on doing," He said wryly as he shifted his backpack nervously. He hadn't had a chance to talk with Aunt May yet. He also hadn't had a chance to see or speak to Kitty since the day he had discovered her secret. And on top of everything, he was about to paraded in front of Tony Stark.
I really hope that he just wants Peter Parker working for him...I mean, he can't know... He thought as Pepper led him into the hallway. It's just a co-incidence.
"I hope you realize, Mr Parker," Pepper said calmly as she led him past a series of doorways. "That Mr Stark has dealings with sensitive knowledge. Weapons, secrets, technology." She stopped at a large metal door. "Everything beyond here is top-secret. Mr Stark has reviewed your psych profile and believes that you are trustworthy and knowledgeable enough for this task." She then proceeded to punch in a series of numbers on a control panel for the door, which slid open with a hiss. Inside was a black abyss.
"Go in," Pepper chimed. He gulped and took a few steps forward. The door hissed shut behind him and lights flickered on, revealing a fifty-foot tall robot. Exposed wires were everywhere, namely the joints. But sections of the robot where covered in red and black metal plating. The eyes had a soft yellow glow to them, giving it a rather sleepy appearance. Scattered on the floor at it's feet were several large weapons, including, but not limited to a large chain-gun and rocket launcher. Peter could also make out what looked like an arc reactor in the chest region.
"Wow," Peter whistled as he admired the craftsmanship.
"That, Mr Parker," said a cocky-sounding Tony Stark as he appeared from behind one of the robot's legs. "Is the Sentinel enforcer mark 1 prototype."
"It's...big," Peter replied in disbelief.
"Gives it a psychological advantage. It's primary design purpose is to hunt down more dangerous super-villains." Stark said with a confident smile. "Stuff that's to dangerous for a human. Or give us some backup when needed."
"So this is your next big project?" Peter asked intently as he continued to observe the mech.
"No," Stark replied as he clasped a hand around Peter's shoulder. "No that's a little side-project for the government I'm working on. Apparently they're not feeling equipped to deal with some of today's threats." Stark chimed as he led Peter to a small door and opened it. "What we are working on right now is way cooler." Stark finished as he flicked on the lights, revealing a row of power armour suits.
"The hall of armour," Peter whistled.
"The hall of prototypes," Stark replied, with pride and pleasure shining across his face as he walked past each suit. "I haven't tried on any of this stuff yet, Mr Parker."
"But he will," said another man's voice ass the speaker strode into the room. Peter recognized the voice without seeing the man's face. His heart skipped a beat as Captain America clapped Peter on the shoulder. "Is this the intern?" He asked.
"He is," Stark replied, "You remember Captain America, right, Mr Parker?"
"What!?" Peter blurted, unable to control himself. Oh god...no...
"Well considering that you've teamed up on several occasions, I assumed..." Stark began in a sarcastic tone, before striking his head with an open palm. "Oh, I forgot. You're not Spider-man right now. Your a civilian."
"How..." Peter began to say, more reserved this time.
"We track super-villains on a daily basis. Compared to the likes of Loki and Doom, you're a walk in the park, son. We have had you pegged on a list for over a year now." Captain America said with confidence as he examined one of the suits. "The whole contest was a ruse we concocted after narrowed it down to three students. You, Harry Osborne and Eugene Thompson."
"You thought of Flash?" Peter blurted, "I'm sorry but the guy..."
"Immediately fell short of our intelligence criteria," Stark said jokingly. "Leaving the Osborne kid. He is smart and has access to Oscorp technology. However, he can be accounted for yesterday, while you where one of three students that we could not find."
"Add that to your sudden drop in school attendance once Spider-man started showing up," Captain America said with certainty. "And we put two and two together." Peter still found himself dumbfounded by the idea that his secret identity had been uncovered. In fact, it irritated him, neither of these two founding Avengers had family that couldn't protect themselves. Whereas he had to protect his Aunt from his double life.
"How many people know?" Peter asked.
"Your identity?" Stark replied as he mock-scratched his head. "Founding members only, so me and Cap, plus Thor, Hank and Janet. You've also been put on the S.H.I.E.L.D database, director's eyes only."
"And my address?" Peter said with a hint of urgency.
"Does it matter? You could move to the mansion at any time." Captain America replied with ease. " No one would be stupid enough to attack you while you're in a building full of Earth's mightiest heroes."
"So instead they go after the only family I have left in the world?" Peter half-snapped at them, silently berating them for overlooking that fact. "I've been around, sirs. I once got a glimpse at an alternate time-line. You wanna know what happened when I went public? My Aunt got shot by one of the Kingpin's men, because the other me was busy."
"That's not gonna happen, son." Captain America said as he placed a palm on Peter's shoulder, doing his best to calm him. And it worked, to a certain degree. "We'll erase all we can." Peter's mind was given a little leeway, allowing it to wander to other pressing issues.
Should he talk to Kitty about the fact that she is a mutant? No, there's a reason she doesn't announce it to the world. Even if her intentions are less than ideal, she's saved my life on more than one occasion, so I owe her so much.
And if I was to talk to her as Peter Parker, she might make a connection. That might put Aunt May in danger. And speaking of Aunt May, she's a huge anti-mutant supporter, how am I supposed to bring that up? 'Hey, Aunt May. Just thought I'd tell you I'm hanging around with someone you suspect of terrorism.' Man, I hate my life, it's as if God's up there saying 'lets screw with Peter Parker's life! I hate that spider-guy!' Peter looked up from the floor, where he had been staring to see both Captain America and Tony Stark looking at him with puzzled looks.
"I still get the scholarship, right?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes, you do" Stark replied. "Pepper will give you the papers you need on your way out. You still get to go to school full-time. Just show up here for a couple of hours each day. Now go spend time with those famous cheerleaders you won't let me meet." Peter took this as an invitation to leave, so he did just that.
Minutes later he was swinging through the streets at an usually high speed. He was so caught up in his thoughts from the past few days, and he hadn't finished processing everything internally. All he needed was someone to talk to. Someone who would understand both aspects of his life. Problem is, the only person I trust like that is Cap. And If I talk to him, he'll talk to Stark. Not to mention, he probably won't be able to explain this feeling in my gut. That's Aunt May's speciality, but she can't know I'm Spider-man because, well...she can't.
He landed on a rooftop and overlooked the street. He watched as the cars drove by below, and marvelled at the simplicity of it all. But once again, his thoughts were interrupted, this time by a an impact shock-wave.
Peter turned on instinct to see that a large metallic sphere had imbedded itself in the roof behind him. Where the hell did it come from? Peter asked himself as he gingerly approached the orb. He reached out a hand and prodded it gently.
The metal shifted, rippling like water.
A hole appeared in the top as Peter took a step back. Out of the hole came a man. He floated into the air, giving Peter a better look at his features. Red metal armour covered the man's body, and a domed helmet covered his head. A grand black cape flowed from his shoulders as the man extended a hand, almost in friendship.
"There is no need to be frightened," the man said with an air of command. Beneath the man's helmet, Peter could see grey hair. "My name is Erik Lensherr. I am a friend."
"A friend who tries to sneak up on me in a giant bowling ball," Peter replied as he took the man's hand in his own, shaking it.
"Well, not all of us possess the luxury of the ability to swing from rooftops," Erik smiled. It was at that moment that a low buzz filled the back of his head, telling Peter to tread carefully while talking to this man. "But alas, I did not come here for idle talk."
"Then, alas, what did you come for?" Peter asked, growing tired of beating around the bush with people.
"I come to offer you a chance. A chance to stand by my side as a part of my Brotherhood." Erik smiled as he continued to loom over Peter. Brotherhood! Peter thought, those people who attacked the rally! His first thought was to arrest the man for terrorism, but his spider-sense told him that things weren't that easy. He stood rooted on the spot, waiting for an answer to come to him.
"YOU!" a familiar voice shouted as a figure darted around the corner. Fuck, Peter thought as Kitty Pryde leaped into the air, her jump prolonged by her density-shifting powers. She headed strait for Erik, who with a wave of his hand sent the sphere he had arrived in flying towards her.
At the last second, the sphere warped and wrapped itself around Kitty. Peter immediately knew what had happened, why she couldn't escape by phasing. The metal was pressed against her skin so tight that it's density shifted with her body.
"I make my offer to you as well, miss Pryde. The brotherhood could use someone of your talents and abilities," Erik said with a hint of anger in his voice. "Together, we can end this suffering in a way that Xavier never could."
"Never," Kitty spat defiantly as she continued to struggle against her restraint. "It's because of people like you that our people get treated like animals."
"Do not talk to me about how our people have been treated, child!" Erik screamed as he clenched a fist. The metal surrounding Kitty began to contract around her as he continued, "I watched as our people were led to the slaughterhouses by men with guns. I watched as my own mother was killed before my eyes!" An ear-splitting scream filled Peter's ears as the metal prison became painfully tight around Kitty. Her face became red as blood was forced upward.
"No!" Peter shouted as he charged forward, slamming his fist into Erik Lensherr's chest, leaving a sizable dent in the thick armour. This served as a sufficient distraction, as Kitty's metal cocoon dissipated as Lensherr willed it towards Peter. Anticipating the metal, Peter ducked underneath it, grabbed it with his webbing and hurled it back at Lensherr.
"You dare to attack the master of magnetism with metal?" Lensherr shouted in a primal fury as he directed the metal elsewhere.
"Master of Magnetism?" Peter replied as he back-flipped closer to Kitty. "I would have gone with the master of bad hairdo's."
"I will ignore your insolence, Spider-man, if you join us." Lensherr replied with a curt tongue.
"Let me get this strait," Peter snapped back towards the towering figure. "You want me to join a band of known terrorists. You do this by cornering me and threatening..."
"I did not threaten your life," Lensherr replied with a hint of anger.
"No, you threatened hers," Peter said, sticking out an arm and pointing to Kitty. "A friend of mine who has saved my life three times now. Not exactly the best plot, Dr Evil." Lensherr's face contorted briefly, as if he was suppressing something that was doing it's best to come out.
"You spurn my offer? To be at the right hand of the one who controls the fate of the world?" Lensherr replied with dignity, before smiling slightly. "I thought I developed you better than that." With that, Lensherr floated away, Leaving Peter to tend to Kitty as she regained consciousness. All the while a single word floated through his mind.
Developed?